Human Rights: Muslim civil liberties group to seek Muslim's return from 'Rendition' in Egypt

On Wednesday, June 16, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) will hold a news conference in Washington, D.C., to call for the return to the United States of a Virginia Muslim interrogated in Egypt by FBI agents using pressure tactics that the civil rights group calls a form of "extraordinary rendition." [Family members of the man barred from flying home to the United States will join the news conference.]

"Extraordinary rendition" is the illegal practice of handing suspects to foreign governments knowing they will face harsh treatment or even torture during interrogations.

CAIR says the Muslim and his younger brother, both Virginia-born citizens of Somali heritage, were stopped by the FBI in Egypt as they were traveling home from Yemen. The younger man, who has since been allowed to return to the United States, says he and his brother faced repeated FBI interrogations, despite assertion of their constitutional right to remain silent as advised by their attorney.

Before being allowed to leave Egypt, the younger brother was allegedly interrogated by a man claiming to be with the "CIA" and was blindfolded and chained to a wall in an Egyptian police facility for several days. During his detention, the younger brother alleges he was assaulted and subjected to sleep deprivation.

The older brother told CAIR that FBI agents said he would "never see the United States or your family again" unless he "rethought" his answers. He was also allegedly pressured to spy on the American Muslim community if he is allowed to return home.

At the news conference, CAIR will outline similar current cases involving American Muslim citizens.

Source: Council on American-Islamic Relations